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The Theory of Nothing was a book I published in 2006, in which I explored the consequences of assuming:

  1. Everything exists, and
  2. The reality we observe must be compatible with our existence within that reality.

The title “Theory of Nothing” came from the observation that the more inclusive a scientific theory, the less specific its predictions can be without additional ad hoc assumptions. The ultimate theory of everything is just a theory of nothing. Yet surprisingly, the theory in Theory of Nothing does have some explanatory and predictive properties, which follow from the second assumption, which links the laws of physics to the laws of psychology.

Most of the ideas I discuss in that book were discussed on the Everything List, an internet forum inhabited by some of the brightest minds I know. Since the list discussions tended to be quite technical, and often refer to previous discussions, there is a need for some kind of summary, like a FAQ of the list discussion. The trouble is, nobody seems to have time to write one. As part of my book project, I attempted to summarise and make accessible the everything-list discussion, as well as position the topic within the broader philosophical literature.



Readers comments:



Theory of Nothing is available either as a hardcopy book through Amazon.com, BookPOD Australia or other selected bookstores, or as a PDF e-book downloadable free of charge.

Theory of Nothing has been translated into Swedish by Lennart Nilsson: Teorin om Ingenting



Austin Torney was inspired to write a poem about Borges' library, and the little 'hut' next door that claimed the same information.



A rather thought provoking piece of fiction from an anonymous author: A conversation.